Greetings,
Pardon me if I am posting this to the wrong forum, but I need some help.
I have a situation that I need some advice on and I’m hoping someone on this forum has dealt with this particular issue or has experience on the matter. I am willing to pay for professional advice if necessary.
I am a US citizen and will be working remotely from the US for a UK company and travel to the UK a minimum of 1 week a month to work onsite. During busy times I may be working onsite in the UK for 2 weeks or more at a stint. I will be paid directly from the UK company and be their permanent employee (not paid as a contractor or consultant). I believe my monthly salary will be paid into a UK bank account (which I will have to set up)… I will then be transferring money to my US account as needed.
TAX/Salary Payment Arrangement
My assumption regarding my tax liability is that I will be responsible for both US and UK tax and the amount will be determined by the number of days I spend in each country. So, for example, if I am only working in the UK for 1 week a month I would only be required to pay UK tax for the 1 week. I will have to keep track of all this myself and be prepared to pay the required tax at the end of the year (or hire a good accountant to sort it out for me).
• Am I thinking through the tax part correctly?
• Is there a better way to have the UK company pay me so that I can limit my tax exposure?
• Any other ideas on a better way to set this up?
Which Visa?
I am actually married to a UK citizen and currently have a spouse settlement visa (which may no longer be valid because I have been out of the UK for more than 180 days consecutively). We had moved over to the UK in August 2007 with the intent of settling there but due to family issues and another job offer in the US, we left the UK in November 2007 and have not returned. So my assumption based on my new situation (not settled permanently in the UK), I will not be able to use my current settlement visa (a bit of a waste of money, I know), and will have to apply for a new visa to allow me to work in the UK part time.
• Do I have the UK Company sponsor me for a Work Permit even though I won’t be living in the UK permanently?
• Do I apply for a Business Visa? Not really sure what benefits this will give me and the information I have been able to find on UK Business Visas make it seem that this visa doesn’t apply to my situation.
• Or, do I just enter the UK on regular visitor visas every month? This seems risky as I will technically be working for a UK company and paid in pounds.
• Also, how does my spouse settlement visa (expires August 2009) play into all of this? As noted, I'm assuming because of the residency requirements it's no longer valid.
I know I have a lot of (seemingly) difficult questions here, which is why I offered to pay for professional advice, but I figured I would try to post here first and see if anyone may have some information they can share.
Thank you in advance for any information you may be able to provide.
Regards,
George